Project X
by Cristi Pierce
Summary: Xandra's a sixteen year old mutant after the world as everyone knows it ends. She just wants to track down her younger, evil brother to kill him before he wreaks havoc on the New World. Is that so hard to ask? I do not own Maximum Ride.
1. Chapter 1

P.O.V Xandra

I'm some where in New England. The world as we knew it has ended.

Thud! Oww. That hurt. I'm on my back, on my wings. The man who just ambushed me, kicks me and I roll over.

"Get up!" he yells eagerly. I got up and looked at him through my black, waist length hair.

The man is obviously a mutant. He was apparently given super strength and super bloodlust. I could kill him now, but I don't really want to . I should at least give him a heads up.

"Please, stop, I don't want to hurt you."

"Hahaha! You? Hurt me?"

"Look, this is your last chance to run." He laughs. I shrug. I feel my teeth getting longer, and sharper. I know my eyes are getting feral and I show my newly three inch long teeth, in an expression that is anything but a smile. His mouth drops open. I resist the urge to laugh. I bend over and swiftly pick up a rock and throw it through the center of a few trees, just to see his face. It was hysterical! I couldn't help myself but laugh. He looked like he was about to crap his pants.

My fingers twitch in anticipation of the fight. _'And this isn't even the tip of the iceberg,' _I think at him. That's right, I telepathic. I'm also telekinetic, along with a few other things.

He looks at me shocked and asks, "Can I still run?"

"Nope."

"-"

"Yep."

P.O.V Max

Fang and I watch the girl with wings and a tail on the ground. She was just ambushed by a super strong guy, and then made him look terrified. I couldn't see the first thing she did, but the throwing a rock through trees, that's a bit scary.

The girl lunges and grabs his arm. She breaks it across her knee. He stumbles back stifling a cry of pain and hold his arm. He awkwardly tries to hit her with his unhurt arm, but the girl ducks and kicks his lower belly. He bends over to grab her, but, much to the moron's amazement, she is behind him, pushing him face fist in the dirt in front of her. She smiles a small smile and I see why the man was afraid of her even before the rock. She has fangs. I look at Fang in astonishment and he looks at me with his eyes slightly widened, which is Fang for "OMG! OMG!" The man was on his back crying for mercy. The girl turns around and he jumps up and charges her from behind. I begin to go help her, but she turns around and uppercuts his jaw then karate chops the side of his neck, breaking it. She turns and jumps into the air, snapping out her wings. Fang and I look at each other and follow her.


	2. Chapter 2: New friends?

P.O.V Max

The girl sees us after a minute of flying. She turned around slightly and raised an eyebrow. We got close enough to talk, but not to pose a threat.

"Who are you?" she asked. She had long black hair and emerald green eyes. She also had scars that showed she had had a hard life. Her wings and fluffy tail were black.

"My name is Max and this is Fang. Who are you? How did you get your wings and tail? How old are you?"

"I'm Xandra. Whitecoats. I think I'm about 17. Are you Maximum Ride?"

"I am."

"Hmm."

P.O.V Xandra

**Maximum Ride!** Wow!

"Where's the rest of your flock?" I ask.

"In a cave. Why?"

I shrug.

"Do you want to join us?"

"Sure." I just can't believe I'm going to go see the flock with _Maximum Ride_. Too bad I won't stay for long.

We set off and after about five minutes Max asks me, "So, you survived the Split."

"The what?" I asked confused. It sound like some sort of butt surgery.

"You know, the apocalypse?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Good. Do you know of other mutants?"

"No, why?"

"Well, I am trying to unite the remaining people."

"Huh."

"What?"

"Nothing. Does he talk, like, at all?" I ask gesturing at Fang.

"Not when he can help it," Max replies with a grin. I like her.

"Here we are," Max says as we enter a cave.

The first thing I see is a boy. He's sitting down so I can't tell how tall he is, but I'm guessing around six foot, probably more. He has dark blonde hair and is well muscled. He looked up at me, his eyes widened. After a second he blushed and looked away. I looked at the rest of the flock. One boy, I think he is blind, he was also tall and muscled, though he was skinnier. He had pale skin and very fair hair. A boy and a girl sat next to each other. I think they are siblings, because they have the same blonde hair and blue eyes. A girl's sitting between them all. She had dark skin and mocha eyes. She looks up and her eyes widened more than I have ever seen someone open their eyes. "Oh!" she exclaims, "You have wings! Where did you get them? What's your name? I'm Nudge. Where did you come from? Why do you have a tail? How-"

"Nudge! Calm down," Max says in a way that it is obvious she must tell Nudge that often. I grin at Nudge and she grins back.

"Flock, this is Xandra," Max announces, "Xandra, that's Iggy, he's 15" she lets me know, pointing to the blind boy, "The girl next to him is my half sister, her name is Ella, she's fourteen. That is Angel, 7 and The Gasman, but you can call him Gazzy, he's 9," she gestures to the siblings, "And that," she points to the boy who blushed, "is Dylan, 16" I nod watching Dylan. He glanced up at me and said, "Hey."

"Hi." Dylan unnerved me.

I felt the one called Angel in my mind. _'You do know it's rude to be uninvited in someone else's mind, don't you?'_ I thought at her

_'Your telepathic too!?'  
_

_'Yeah.'_

_'Wow, I have never met someone with my ability before.'_

_'I have, be glad you haven't'_

_'Why?'_

_'The only other one is a **very** bad guy'_

_'Oh'_

"Go ahead," Max says as she sits down with Fang, "sit down. We are on my way to meet with my mom. We should be there tomorrow afternoon."

I nod. I sit down next to Nudge. They all take out food from packs. I have a pack, too, but I hid it in the forest. My eyes lock onto the can of amazing smelling food that Nudge had in her hand. I can't look away, even though I really want to. All I have in my pack is two outfits, a First-Aid Kit, and a box of granola bars. It's my emergency pack.

"Do you want some?" Nudge asks me, her wide, dark eyes kind.

I nod.

"You don't look like you have eaten in a while."

I shake my head. She goes over to a pack babbling about how Iggy ate most of her food. I glance at Dylan and find him looking at me curiously. This time he doesn't look away and neither do I. He smiles an uneasy smile and I return an equally nervous smile. Nudge comes back with a can and a spoon. I take them both and look at them. I look at the ground, embarrassed, and ask, "What do I do with them?"

She smiles in a small, sympathetic way, "Here," she takes them and grabs a small tab and pulls off the lid. She gives me them back.

"Watch me," she takes her spoon and dips it into the can; scooping out some food. I mimic her and put the spoonful in my mouth. I beam. Then, I realize everyone is staring at me. I look down and eat ferociously. In a second I am done and put down the empty can.

"Wow!" Nudge exclaims, "Gazzy you might have competition for fastest eater."

"Hmm?" Gazzy asks looking at me with his mouth full of the sandwich his was destroying.

"She's a girl," he said around his food, "she can't beat me in an all out eating contest.

I get a bit excited at the challenge. I am very competitive.

"Has Iggy's sexism ruined your mind!?" Max exclaimed.

"No, it's just the truth."

"Bite me," I say simply.

He grins. He looked so cute I have to smile back.

Nudge stands, looking very formal, "I propose that after we meet with Dr. Martinez, we should have an eating contest!"

We all nod, a little too enthusiastically.

"Eating contest! Eating contest!" Gazzy chants and we all join in. I may stay with them a bit longer than I planned.


	3. Chapter 3: Expainations

I should let you know a few things. First of all, I named myself. The whitecoats called me Project X, so I figured Xandra is perfect. I was raised in a lab called the School, in California. I am a clone. I have been alive for ten years. I still have the maturity of a 17 year old, I think.

I escaped just before the apocalypse, right after my younger brother did. He escaped with a bunch of other mutants. He was called Project A.

He is a clone, too. It's confusing, but basically, the person I was cloned from is the older sister of the person he was cloned from. He has been alive for eight years, but looks like and has the maturity of a fifteen year old. During the first six years of his life we were very close. He named himself Antony and we spoke with our minds. After a little while, though, he began to...change. He became more violent, and angry. The whitecoats told him of how the world was going to end and they wanted him to be the guard of whoever takes over. He did not completely agree.

I should explain one more thing, Antony is the improved version of me. He's the success where I am the failure. The whitecoats piled too much onto my DNA. With Antony, they didn't put on so much. As a result of my loaded DNA I am predicted to die in a few weeks. Fun, right? _Sigh._

My mission is to track and kill my brother before he kills Max to take over the world.

**A/N: Sorry this one is so short, I just needed to explain what the deal with her was.**


	4. Chapter 4:Old Enemy

The next morning I awake to screaming. It was Nudge.

I jump up and look at the boy standing next to the unconscious Nudge.

"Hello, Project X!" The boy says casually.

"You know it's Xandra," I tell him through gritted lengthening teeth.

"I haven't properly introduced myself," he says with a sweeping bow, "I am Antony, formerly Project A. I'm also Xandra's little brother."

"Unfortunately," I glance at the Flock. They look slightly surprised at what Antony said, but they also look ready for a fight.

"Why are you here?" I snarl.

"Can't a guy just say hello to his big sister?"

"No." I try to invade his mind, but he is telepathic and blocks me out. Then, he tries to invade my mind and I block him. This all happens in about 2 seconds.

"Well," Antony says, continuing the conversation, "you only have, what, a few weeks to live, right? If I were you I would enjoy the attention."

I hear Nudge gasp and out of the corner of my eye I see that her eyes have widened and she is staring at me. At least she is conscious. The others also look at me in surprise. I ignore all of them, "Why are you really here?"

"If you must know, I am here to tell you to stop tracking me. I also heard that she," Antony points at Max, "is planning to unite the remaining people. You can probably guess the rest."

"So," Max cuts in, her voice hopeful, "you've come to join us?"

"Ha ha! No! I've come to kill you!" He lunges at Max, who is in fighting position, but I know she doesn't stand a chance. I knock her out of the way. Antony lands on me, his teeth also lengthened. I push him off and stand up quickly. I go to punch him, but he punches me in the gut first. I stumble to the side. He advances on me. I lunge and snap my teeth and his neck, he elbows my jaw.

There are a few things about me I have not told you. I can summon and control fire. It's one of the things that I have and Antony does not. He also doesn't have a tail. He is as strong as me and we both have three super senses, sight, smell and hearing.

Anyway, I get a small ball of fire in my palm and am about to slap him with it, when, all of a sudden, he runs out of the cave and flies away. I straighten up from my fighting position. I put out my fire and my teeth begin to retract. My tail twitches in confusion. Why did he run? He was winning!

I look around at the others, Nudge is sitting up and they are all staring at me with terrified eyes and open mouths. When I look at Dylan, I am surprised to realize that it is his expression of complete and utter horror that sends the biggest stab of pain through my chest.

I look down. What was I thinking? They are mutants. I am a monster. I run out of the cave, tears falling without permission, and fly off into the morning sky.

**A?/N: Okay, I want you to review and tell me (spoiler alert!)who you think is going to go after her!**

**Also, since this is my first story, please review on what is good and what is bad!**

**Oh yeah and THANK YOU DEVIL'SEYEALCHEMIST13! I am so appreciative of you being there reviewing since chapter 1!  
**


	5. Chapter 5: Rant

I'm a little bit away when I hears a voice shout, "Wait!" I look behind me, it's Dylan. He's the last person I expected. He was followed by Nudge.

"Why?" I ask, turning around and slowly descending to the ground.

"Uh..." Dylan tries to think as he follows me to the ground with Nudge.

I land, "Exactly! You don't have any kind of reason!"

Nudge and Dylan land.

"Well," Nudge begins, "why are you leaving?"

"I don't belong with you."

"Your a mutant, we are all mutants."

"Then why were you all so afraid of me?"

"We were...surprised."

"I'm not a mutant!" I yell suddenly, "I'm a monster!"

"No, your not!" Dylan yells louder at me. Nudge looks surprised at him. I guess he doesn't yell much.

"Let me tell you something," I say softly, moving closer to him, "I have many things wrong with me besides the obvious wings and tail.I can make my teeth four inches long, pointed and razor sharp." My voice begins to rise a bit. "I can read of take over your mind. That is, if I don't decide to make you go insane instead.I can breathe and survive at the ocean floor. I can hear a dog whistle, too high a frequency for a normal human, from three miles away. I can smell a barbeque from five miles away. I can see, in detail, a feather fall off a hawk and eight miles away. I can run for three days straight and not pass out, or die, from exhaustion," I realize I am becoming slightly hysterical as I begin to walk in a small circle. "I can control fire! I can heal myself, after ten days of torture, in a matter of seconds! I have a ****** _computer chip_ in my BRAIN. It can hack into any electronic system left in the world! I'm a clone! I'm a freak! And I am most definitely a MONSTER!" I scream the last word. I look at them and their huge eyes. I fall to my knees and bury my head in my hands, cursing myself for my weakness.

Nudge and Dylan sit next to me. Nudge hugs me and I look up and hug her back. Dylan puts an arm around my shoulders . He says, "I think it's pretty cool that you can do all those things."

"Stop being mushy," I tell him bluntly.

"You have a computer chip in your brain?" Nudge asks hesitantly.

I look at her, "Yeah. Don't worry, I have complete control over it, so no one can track me, or whatever."

"Cool," she says. It sounds like she means it, but I don't understand. How can it be cool to have a computer chip stuck in your head?

"I'm a clone, too," Dylan kind of blurts out. I look up in surprise. I did not expect that. My mistake, though. In the world where whitecoats wreak havoc on children and teenagers everywhere, you have to be able to expect anything and everything.

Dylan stands up and hols out his hand to me. "You coming?" he grins. I take his hand and he pulls me up. I help Nudge up.

"Thanks, you guys," I say sincerely.

"No, problem," is Nudge's response.

"My pleasure," Dylan answers, "Now, are we going to go, or not?"

I grin at him and take a running lift off in the direction of the cave. I hear Nudge get into the air right before I hear Dylan.


	6. Chapter 6:Annoyance

Max looked up from eating as Dylan, Nudge and I entered the cave.

She smiles kindly, "So, you decided to join us?"

I nod.

"Eat up, then. We are leaving soon," she tosses a packaged thing at me and a bag of dried fruit. As I sit down, I open the fruit, eat one and look at the packaged thing. It says it's a pop-tart. I look up questioningly at Max. She smiles and says, "Go on, eat it."

I open the blue package and smell the two, I don't even know what they are called. Pop-tarts? They smell like fake fruit and sugar. It smells AMAZING! I take a bite. Wow. I eat the rest as fast as I can. Max laughs, "I guess you liked it, huh?"

I nod.

"Here have another," Dylan hands his over to me. I take it, even though I know I shouldn't have more than I need. I eat this one slower and savor it. I look over at Nudge in mid-chew and see her trying not to laugh. I close my eyes and scrunch up my face at her. She bursts out in hysterical laughter that makes me smile. Max begins to laugh at Nudge's hysterics, Fang laughs at Max. Iggy asks, "Wait, Fang is laughing, what happened?" That makes Gazzy laugh while trying to explain it. Angel laughs at Gazzy. Dylan looks at my completely bewildered expression and tries to suppress laughter. I laugh at his ridiculous face. He bursts out laughing.

That is how we all went into a laughing fit that hurt our sides and raised our spirits.

~Later~

I love flying. It was the first thing I did outside of the School. It is the very meaning of freedom to me. The sky, the wind, they can't be contained. It is truly beautiful.

The Flock and I flew in a loose formation. I was between Dylan and Nudge. Nudge was babbling about some dog, and Dylan was looking ahead. It bothered me. First he acts all like he cares about me by following me out of the cave, then he ignores me. I mean, what's with this guy anyway? He is so annoying. He's stupid.

I don't know why, but I _hate_ him.

I move up to Max. "Hey, where are we going?" I ask.

"To visit my mom, Dr. Martinez."

"Where?"

"What used to be Austin, Texas. She found a bunch of mutants there and wanted me to come. She said that there was about 150 of them."

"Wow."

She nods, "Yeah, I was surprised there were so many, too. We are almost there. So, what do you think about Dylan?"

_That _caught me off guard, "He's annoying, why?"

She shrugs, "Sometime ask me about his life story. Better yet, asks him." She smirks at me. I nod, slightly puzzled, and pull back to my position.

"So, what's up?" Nudge asks.

I shrug.

"Your like a girl version of Fang."

I look at her, one eyebrow raised.

"Though, you _are_ a bit more expressive."

I look over to Fang. He has on a seemingly expressionless face. I know that the people closest to him (a.k.a. the Flock) can tell his mood by every quirk of an eyebrow or twitch of the mouth.

"Hmm..." is all I say.

She begins to babble about something. I can't help but smile and listen. She has a sweet voice. She could probably sing. That is, if she doesn't make herself hoarse from all of the talking she does. I hear Angel think to me, _Just get used to Nudge. It never stops._

_She's fine. I actually enjoy listening to_ _her, _I think back.

_You would be the first. Though, sometimes it is soothing to listen to her ramblings when you are worried. Takes your mind off of things.  
_

_I agree. Angel?  
_

_Huh?_

_Are Max and Fang together?_

_Yeah. Why?_

_I thought they were, I just didn't want to ask._

_Max has a half sister who's going out with Iggy._

I look at Angel, surprised. Then look ahead again. _Dr. Martinez has another daughter?_

_Yeah._

"So, Antony?" Nudge abruptly asks.

I look at her, surprised, and a little bit tense.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked," She apologizes.

I shake my head, "It's okay. I'll tell all of you when we reach our destination. It's a long story that I don't want to tell more than I have to."

"I think that's the most I've ever heard you say," Dylan smirks and looks at me, "That is when you aren't ranting."

Grr.

I scowl at him, "Wasn't talking to you."

He just smiles.

I can't do anything but smile back. I look down at the world beneath me, grimacing, deciding not to talk for the rest of the way. Just sit back, and listen to Nudge.

And NOT look at Dylan.

Grr.


	7. Chapter 7: The Search for Dr Martinez

**A/N: I make playlists for all my stories. I am still working on this one, but at the end I will give you it!**

**Please Review!**

**Thank you** **BrightWings111!**

* * *

A few hours later, Max announces that Austin is just five minutes away. Max glances back at me and pulls me away from the Flock. We fly in parallel to them as she says softly, "Look, if you say no, it's okay, but Dylan said you had a, uh, computer chip that can hack into electronics. I was wondering if you could, um, locate my mom?"

I nod, "I'll need to get on the ground, to focus. I'll also need to know what I'm looking for."

"That's fine, we can accommodate that," Max says gratefully. We go back to the Flock.

"There! Land on that building," Max tells us a few minutes later. We all set down on the roof of an abandoned office building. The roof is fat, square, and gray.

I land near the edge and look around at the city beneath me. Every building shows signs of the Split (still sounds weird). I guess this is another place that got destroyed by it. The once busy city is destroyed.

"Xandra, come here," Max calls out to me from the other side of the roof. I walkover to her and Fang, who is holding what looks like a high tech laptop.

Fang looks and me and says, "Last time we heard from Dr. Martinez she was e-mailing us about the number of mutants here. We can't get a hold of her, now, though."

I nod, take the laptop and go to a corner of the roof where no one was. I sit on the edge of the building and open the laptop. I activate my computer chip and numbers, codes, and calculations appear in front of my eyes.

Here is some basic information about my computer chip. I call it C.C. I usually keep it off because I don't like the barrage of information it gives me. Some examples may be that C.C. tells me what my altitude is, if I am in danger, sick, and it identifies people and things around me non-stop. That last one can be useful, if I need information on people or objects. Usually it is annoying, though. All of these things, along with a lot of other stuff, too. I can update C.C. whenever I want to and whenever I come into contact with a electronic system that has information, like a government super computer or a random cell phone, C.C. automatically uploads information, even when it is turned off. It has no limit on storage, so I will always be able to upload things.

As I wait on the edge of the roof for the laptop's information to upload, I read through the e-mails that Dr. Martinez and the Flock have exchanged. It was mostly mutant information and destinations.

Bold letters stating C.C. was done flashed across my vision. I silently ask C.C. to find the IP address of the computer Dr. Martinez was using to send her last e-mail. I then ask C.C. to track the IP address. A few minutes later C.C. has it; it's about ten blocks south of where I am now.

"Max!" I call out, "I found something!" She runs over and I tell her I tracked the IP address of Dr. Martinez's computer to ten blocks south of us. The Flock and I set off.

I led the way, following the map C.C. had come up with, to lead me to the computer Dr. Martinez used.

_Xandra?_ Angel thinks to me about three quarters of the way there.

_Yeah?_

_I just thought you should know that the girl I talked about earlier, Max's step-sister, she'll be with Dr. Martinez._

_Ok. Thanks for telling me._

Angel nods and goes silent.

A few minutes later we all land in front of a broken, seemingly abandoned apartment building. The building looks like it has twenty floors. It also looks like it was for wealthy people. I look a bit closer and see a silhouette in the darkness of a window on the fifth floor. I look into the shadowed windows on the first three floors and spot five people, probably mutants. Three of them don't look very human, but I can't see very well. The other two look human, I think. I look at the dark door way and see the outlines of five other mutants.

"Doesn't look like anyone is here," Nudge says nervously.

I shake my head, "There are people there."

She looks up at me in surprise. I walk forward, my hands raised, and call out, "We are here in peace."

Max comes forward, her hands also raised, "I am Maximum Ride. I am looking for my mom."

The five mutants in the doorway come forward into the evening light. Three of them look completely normal. The other two, not so much. One stout boy had blue-green scaly skin, lizard eyes, and a forked tongue that flicked out of his mouth every few moments. The other was a tall, skinny girl who had leopard spotted fur. She also had feline green eyes. They were all holding guns.

"All of you state your names," says a skinny, dark skinned boy of about fifteen.

We all say our names. Nudge goes first and I go last.

"Who is your leader?" asks a normal looking ten year old brunette girl.

Max steps forward, "I am."

A twenty year old tan skinned, huge guy says in a very deep voice, "Follow me," he turns back to the guards, "Back to your positions."

Max looks slyly up at the mountain of a man and asks, innocently, "So, do you know Dr. Martinez?"

The man stares straight ahead, "That is not for me to disclose. You will meet our elected leader and she will decide if you stay and what you will know."

Sheesh, he is creepy


	8. Chapter 8: Community

**A/N: I probably should've said this earlier, but the part in the books where the disease is released into the general population is not in this. I'm sorry if you liked this part or something, but I think that if I add too many things that the story will get cluttered.**

**I do not own Maximum Ride.**

We walk into a dim hallway that was lit with florescent light that constantly flickered. The hall broke off into a few different rooms that I saw were janitor closets and other offices.

I look at the man leading us and tell him, "Your name is Donald Alan and you have super hearing and can jump twenty feet in the air." That should make him more interested in us.

"So?" he asks, like I didn't just read his mind. What he is thinking is, _What the? Dr. M said that only seven kids would be here. Maybe they picked up a new one?_

As we reached some double doors at the end of the hall we stop.

"So, Donald? You didn't know Xandra joined us?" Angel asks, innocent, wide eyes staring up at Donald.

He looks at her in surprise, then collects himself and shrugs, "Wait here. I'll be back." He goes through the doors.

In my mind I ask Max, _Can I set up a psychic link between all of us? So that we don't need to worry about eavesdroppers._

She glances at me, _Sure, just give 'em a heads up._

_Hey, _I think out to the Flock, _I'm gonna set up a link with everyone. Is that okay?_

They all look at Max, who nods. They nod to me and I get busy. First I get Angel, to show her how to make a link, in case she ever needs to. Then Max, Fang, Nudge, Gazzy, and Dylan. When I try to get Iggy, he is too tense and resists.

_Iggy, relax, or else I can't hook you up._

_What? _He asks, obviously distracted.

_You're not letting me link you with the others._

_Sorry. _He takes a deep breath and relaxes. I hook him up.

_So, _Max thinks to Angel and me, _What did you guys pick up?_

_Your mom is here, and she has been talking about you guys, _I think.

_I hope she is okay,_ Max worries.

_I'm sure she is,_ Fang puts his hand on Max's shoulder.

_Okay, Donald is coming back, I'm going to break the connection_

They all nod and just after I break the connection, Iggy mentally shouts at me.

_What?_ I ask, slightly surprised.

_See if he knows anything about Ella._

_Okay._

As I begin to shift through his thoughts, Donald looks down at all of us, says, "Come," turns, and exits the hall. I found something and make a one way connection from Donald to me to Iggy, just that sliver of thought. _Dr. M and her daughter, what's her name? Ella! yeah, Ella, are going to be happy that their friends are here._

_Thanks,_ Iggy thinks to me.

_No problem._

I am the last through the door. In front of me is a very large, oblong, fancy lobby. It is covered in gold, gold trimmings, gold furniture and even gold tiles. It's obviously not real. The lobby is very busy, filled with children , parents, what looked like security, and people just hanging out. There are both mutants and humans. Suddenly, C.C (which I forgot to turn off) identified who is 100% human and who isn't.

Donald lets us take it all on for a moment, then says, "Let's go."

He walks towards the gold front desk, straight across the large room. People begin to take notice of us. Soon it is silent and all eyes are on us. I instinctively raise my tail, slightly. To show that I was dominate and to not mess with me. I look into the crowd, making eye contact and tapping into a few random minds. They are all wondering who we are. They also all know who Dr. Martinez is. Several suspect that we are the mutants she spoke of.

When we get to the front desk, Donald turns to the people and booms, "Go back to your lives." Everyone immediately begins to talk again. Children play but I hear adults talking about us. I tune them out and focus on what's in front of me.

Donald the man behind the desk, "Dr. M's children." The man nods, "Gregory," he summons a mutant boy of about 13. The boy looks at all of us and his eyes throw light back at me, like a cat. "Gregory, tell Ms. Spencer who is here."

The boy turns and I read his mind. Ms. Spencer is their elected leader. Gregory exits the lobby through a door to the left of the desk. We sit in silence for a few minutes. Then, Gregory comes back and calmly tells Donald to take us to Ms. Spencer. Donald nods and leads us through the door. On the other side is a circular room. It is rather large, but not nearly as big as the lobby. It is simple, elegant and functional, all at the same time. The room is filled with people, both human and mutant, walking and talking hurriedly. Donald leads us through the room to a desk on the opposite wall. As we walk the room grows quieter and quieter until it is silent and everyone is staring at us. The people already surrounding the desk back of as we approach.

Sitting at the desk is an older lady with dark blonde hair laced with gray and white. C.C. locate- her age to be about 48. As C.C runs a facial recognition scan, I scrutinize her face. It has deep worry lines and some smile lines. Her over all impression is intelligent, trustworthy and hard working. C.C. got a hit. Ms. Taylor Spencer, Mayor of Austin Texas, 100% human and a graduate of Harvard University. Her records are clean and she was generous. She attended so many charity events it would be amazing if she had any money left. Though, C.C does tell me that she came from a very wealthy family.

All this happened in about two silent minutes in which two sides squared off; Max and the Flock vs Ms. Spencer and her people.

I tap into Ms. Spencer's mind. _This is odd. Dr. Martinez said that there was only seven children. They must of picked one up. I am not looking forward to telling them what happened-wait! Dr. Martinez said the youngest girl was a mind reader, _Ms. Spencer's eyes flicks to Angel as she thinks, _Hello child, I do not wish to harm you. You must understand I am trying to protect my people._

_Of course,_ Angel thinks back, _but I hope you keep your promise. You seem like you are a very smart woman._

"Thank you," Ms. Spencer accidenlty says aloud. Everyone looks at her, slightly startled. The Flock just glances at Angel's innocent eyes and smirks. If Ms. Spencer is embarrassed by her slip up, she hides it well. She looks at all her people around the room and says, "Please leave us."

They all calmly file out, with more then a few glances back.


End file.
